Detroit Lions second look: Examining the vertical passing attack and why it wasn't more successful

After the Detroit Lions' 27-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, I asked quarterback Matthew Stafford how he felt about being able to unleash an aggressive downfield passing attack for the first time this season.

Predictably, Stafford provided a generic response about taking what the defense gave them.

Largely, that's a fair statement. The Bengals played a ton of Cover-1, including the occasional single coverage on Calvin Johnson. Still, Stafford and the Lions forced their will on the Bengals on a couple of occasions as well, including the memorable 50-yard touchdown to Johnson.

Given the uniqueness of the play-calling compared to the team's other six games, I decided to take a closer look at why and how the Lions attacked the Bengals vertically.

Buckle up, this is a long post.

9:38 first quarter, 1st-and-10, Detroit 34-yard line
Detroit went four wide, with three to the right side and tight end Joseph Fauria close to the line. The Bengals countered with a shallow cover-2, man coverage look, but pre-snap, showed a corner blitz with one safety coming down toward the box and the other dropping deep.

Fauria ran a deep post toward the right sideline, but was bumped on his route twice, first by linebacker Rey Maualuga, then by safety George Iloka. This disrupted the timing of the route, especially the Maulaluga hit which caused Fauria to stumble. This caused Stafford's throw to sail just wide.

2:10 first quarter, 1st-and-10, Detroit 26-yard lineThe Lions lined up three wide and the Bengals countered with man on the outside, an underneath zone with the linebackers and a deep safety. Terence Newman had press coverage on the outside on Johnson and Stafford makes the easy read to throw a fade to his star receiver. The throw was good, but Johnson was unable to get both feet down in bounds while making the grab.

14:19 second quarter, 1st-and-10, Cincinnati 32-yard line
It's interesting to see a deep shot to Johnson where he wasn't the first read in Stafford's progression. The Lions lined up with two wide with Fauria and Brandon Pettigrew staying in to provide max protection for the quarterback.

The Bengals put seven in the box with two deep safeties. Stafford stared down Kris Durham on the left side as the receiver ran a deep out, but noticing the defensive look, went back to Johnson's side where the receiver was streaking down the middle of the field on a post with just safety Reggie Nelson in coverage.

The pass is on target, but Nelson makes a great play on the ball. The other safety, George Iloka, also recovers nicely on the play and delivers a massive (legal) blow to Johnson as the pass is tipped away.

12:42 second quarter, 1st-and-10, Cincinnati 20-yard linePlain and simple, this is a missed throw by Stafford. Durham has single coverage on the outside to the right and beats Newman by feigning outside, before gaining inside position on a go route. Stafford's throw was behind the receiver.

11:53 second quarter, 3rd-and-8, Cincinnati 18-yard line
This play is one where Stafford forced the throw, but credit the Bengals for good coverage scheme, pass rush and overall execution.

Detroit lined up with three wide, with Fauria in the slot to the right. The Bengals put six down on the line of scrimmage, showing blitz with off-man coverage and a deep safety shading to Johnson on the right side.

On the snap, the Bengals quickly doubled Fauria, with defensive end Micheal Johnson dropping back and taking away the inside route and safety Chris Crocker providing help over the top. Stafford was forced to fire the pass early to the doubled Fauria because guard Rob Sims allowed pressure up the middle.

7:17 second quarter, 1st-and-10, Detroit 37-yard line
This was a nice play design by offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, but Stafford just missed his target.

The Lions lined up in a run look with both tight ends to the right side of the formation and Pettigrew lined up as the H-back. The Bengals stacked the box with man coverage on the two outside receivers and a deep safety that was shaded toward Durham when the teams initially lined up, but drifted over to Johnson's side (left) pre-snap.

The Lions ran play-action, freezing the linebackers as both Durham and Johnson ran deep routes. Stafford rolled out to his right, drawing the deep safety from Johnson to Durham, then fired a bomb to Johnson, who had beat the corner on a post down the middle.

The pass was overthrown and landed a foot beyond Johnson's outstretched arms.

5:06 second quarter, 2nd-and-7, Cincinnati 46-yard line
Three wide with Durham in the slot and the Bengals in press-man coverage with one deep safety. Durham has a great release and comes off the line clean, but Stafford just overthrows him for what would have been an easy touchdown.

2:45 second quarter, 2nd-and-8, Cincinnati 16-yard line
Very similar play to the last deep ball and it looks like Stafford overthrows Broyles in the end zone, but this one isn't on the quarterback.

Credit here goes to Crocker who stealthily grabbed Broyles' arm as he ran by, disrupting the timing of the route. The throw was actually perfect, but the Bengals DB got away with holding.

10:07 third quarter, 3rd-and-20, Detroit 10-yard line
A simple, but excellent play design by Linehan, knowing the attention Johnson would likely draw on the 3rd-and-long play.

The Lions put Johnson in the slot and had him run a skinny post, drawing two linebackers in zone and the deep safety. This left Kevin Ogletree in single coverage on the outside.

Credit to the receiver for getting a clean release off the line of scrimmage, then hugging the right sideline to take advantage of the space Johnson has cleared on that side of the field. Stafford delivered a perfect pass for the big gain.

8:23 third quarter, 3rd-and-10, Cincinnati 27-yard line
Here's a case of Fauria creating space for Johnson. The Lions lined up three wide with Johnson in the slot on the left side and Durham wide right with both tight ends tight to that side of the formation. The Bengals are again in man with one deep safety.

On the snap, both tight ends go out on routes, with Pettigrew running a short sit-down route over the middle and Fauria heading vertical down the seam. Stafford looks that direction on the snap, freezing the safety just long enough to find Johnson with a perfectly placed back shoulder pass down the opposite seam for the touchdown.

13:33 fourth quarter, 3rd-and-1, Detroit 31-yard line
During the game, I noted to colleague Kyle Meinke how risky I thought it was to go empty backfield on 3rd-and-1 in such a critical situation, but Linehan drew up another gem.

The Lions lined up four wide with Reggie Bush in the right slot and Durham wide to that side. Both ran vertical routes against the Bengals zone coverage, leaving the cornerback covering both options. He stuck with Durham down the sideline, leaving Bush open down the seam for a 27-yard gain.

12:10 fourth quarter, 3rd-and-18, 50-yard line
You won't be able to convince me the 50-yard touchdown to Johnson was much more than a prayer on 3rd-and-long, but when you have the best receiver in the game, prayers get answered a little more often.

The Bengals had no intention of giving up the first down, playing a very deep Cover-2 zone. Johnson ran a skinny post from the right slot and both safeties were in good position to make a play, but, well, you saw what happened.

Kris Durham was actually more open along the left sideline, but since Stafford rolled out right by design, the safety would have had time to recover and make a play on the ball. The decision to go to Johnson, even in double-coverage, was the higher percentage play.

6:25 fourth quarter, 2nd-and-11, Cincinnati 46-yard line
This one might have been an ill-advised throwaway. Stafford was initially looking for Johnson on a crossing route underneath, but the Bengals did a good job taking it away.

The quarterback moved to his next read, but pressure from the pass rush was closing in fast and Stafford threw the pass to Pettigrew -- running a flag route from the right slot -- despite the tight end being blanketed in man coverage with the safety in position to help.

6:19 fourth quarter, 3rd-and-11, Cincinnati 46-yard line
This wasn't designed to be a deep pass. It was supposed to be a screen to Joique Bell, but the Bengals snuffed out the original play call. Bell was smart and broke his route vertical as Stafford bought time in the pocket with his feet.

The pair nearly connected on the broken play downfield, but even if they had, it wouldn't have mattered. The Lions were flagged for offensive pass interference because the receivers were blocking for the screen.

Overall, Stafford did miss some throws, but it wasn't as bad as it might have appeared on the initial broadcast. The two to Durham were probably the biggest mistakes.

But you like the aggressiveness and you have a better understanding why most teams don't play Cover-1 against Detroit.